Nickol R. Hackett, the Foundation’s chief investment officer and treasurer, was named one of the Chicago area’s top Business Leaders of Color for 2021 by Chicago United.
With a long track record in institutional portfolio management, and as an investment professional across the corporate, public and non-profit spheres, Hackett has championed diversity in the financial sector.
Throughout her career, she has built differentiated portfolios by sourcing new and emerging talent and allocating more than $3 billion to diverse managers who have gone on to construct best-in-class investment platforms. She notes that this approach is also taking shape in philanthropy, where the Joyce Foundation – under Hackett’s leadership – is extending the model by putting greater emphasis on inclusion and sustainability within its asset pool.
Chicago United was established to help racially diverse CEOs and executive level managers share common experiences to promote diversity and inclusion. Its mission includes advancing multiracial leadership in corporate governance, expanding the talent pipeline for executive level management, and growing minority businesses. The organization has presented the Business Leaders of Color awards since 2003.
"We are thrilled to honor these individuals and welcome this cohort into an assembly of history-making trailblazers,” said Chicago United President and CEO Tiffany Hamel Johnson.
An essay by Hackett, entitled “Now is the time for making aspirational values of our missions actionable,” is included in Chicago United’s online publication about the awards. It can be found here.
About The Joyce Foundation
Joyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.